In recent years, the immense power wielded by tech giants like Meta, Apple and Amazon has sparked widespread concerns among lawmakers, regulators and the general public. As these companies have grown from humble start-ups to global behemoths, they have come to dominate swaths of the digital economy unprecedentedly, exploiting the evolving regulatory landscape. Their unquantifiable influence over global markets and unrestrained access to consumer data has led to a wave of growing unease driving a push for stricter regulations aiming to curb their power and ensure a more transparent digital playing field.
Aside from the insight big tech has into our every click, scroll or like, a central element of concern is antitrust. Historically, antitrust laws were designed to prevent any single company from becoming so powerful that it stifled competition and harmed consumers. For a functioning capitalist economy, competition is healthy and encouraged as it provides an incentive for individual companies to design better products and price them lower – thereby benefiting the consumer. The most renowned instance of antitrust laws in action was the 1911 breakup of Standard Oil, an oil company established by John D. Rockefeller that formed a near-monopoly on the oil industry in the US during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Critics argue that tech giants have crossed that line. Companies such as Apple and Google have repeatedly come under fire for leveraging their market power to undercut competitors and prioritize their own products and services. For example, Apple is accused of making Android seem less appealing by highlighting iMessage texts from an Android device in an unpleasing green bubble and restricting services like Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Fitness+ to Apple device users. Google is accused of allegedly manipulating search results to favor its own products, while Amazon faces scrutiny for potentially using data from third-party sellers to inform its product decisions.
In response, governments and regulatory bodies have begun to implement new laws to curb the powers that this cluster of companies enjoys. At the forefront of this surge of change is the European Union, which enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018. The GDPR has several functions ranging from the protection of individuals’ rights to ensuring a lawful, transparent digital environment and minimizing data collection. Alongside this, the EU has proposed various other new laws concerning data collection to product pricing, such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) which seeks to impose new rules on companies deemed “gatekeepers” of the digital economy.
In the United States, the regulatory push reining in big tech has accelerated over the past year. Bipartisan efforts are currently underway, introducing numerous new bills in Congress targeting antitrust and data privacy. Separate government institutions are also involved; the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) have ramped up investigations into big tech, looking into potential monopolistic practices and consumer privacy violations.
Beyond antitrust issues, there is growing concern over the sheer volume of data that is collected from consumers and what is done with it. One aspect is the data marketplace in which companies established to collect information about consumer decisions and trends sell this to other companies, which can therefore optimize their products/services for maximum profit. Furthermore, how data is collected is increasingly concerning; the infamous case of an ad for a particular product appearing on your device after you talk about this product to others has long been a source of concern. Moreover, the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed how the data harvested from millions of Facebook users was used to influence political campaigns. Since then, public awareness of data privacy has skyrocketed prompting calls for more regulations to protect users’ data.
Big tech fervently maintain that their practices are in line with regulations and that they have a net positive impact on society. Despite this, it is naive to expect them, or any company for that matter, to openly admit that some of their practices are in violation of the law or that they deliberately seek to crush competition. It is crucial to remember that we are discussing a group of companies with vast resources at their disposal, not merely financial but also in terms of data and influence in the political sphere. This includes teams of lawyers and lobbyists, all trying to shape legislation in favour through arguments that more stringent regulation would discourage innovation and harm consumers by limiting the availability of free or low-cost services.
To add to this are issues regarding censorship and individual freedoms in the online world; both of which are not dictated by government policies but rather by companies’ choices. For instance, Telegram, which hosts 900 million active monthly users, is accused of being essentially the ideal online haven for drugs, arms and stolen credit card dealers. With their lack of monitoring users’ messages, which some argue is in the protection of people’s privacy rights, drug dealers have used the app to message consumers. Furthermore, they have exploited Telegram features that allow people to be added to group chats without their consent, leading to massive online drug forums and chats in which almost every available recreational drug is advertised and glorified.
Whilst there is undoubtedly a long and difficult path to curbing the authority and unrestrained freedoms of big tech, the tide is finally turning. Public awareness about the array of issues mentioned in this article is on the rise, forcing governments to finally investigate and rein in on the dominance and unlawful freedoms that these companies have relished.
Written by Rakan Pharaon
